Thursday, December 8, 2011

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Series: Day 8

Metallic Ornament Wreath:Thrifty Doesn't Mean Cheapo

I find some amazing stuff at my local dollar store. Don't get me wrong, most of the stuff in that store is...well, cheapo. But every once in a while, I come across something in my Dollar Tree that just stuns the heck out of me. The ornament wreath that I made from metallic Christmas ornaments are a great example.

I was scouring the store a few days back, looking for things like the glass candlestick holders that I used in my Silver and White Doily Christmas Trees, and found these metallic ornaments. I stopped for a second because I couldn't believe the visual quality of these ornaments. They had the appearance of expensive vintage ornaments. Well...I gobbled up several tubes of them. For a buck each, I was frantic.

Why did I get myself all riled up?!! Well, I have been wanting to make one of those ornament wreaths that I have been seeing all over Pin Interest. They take a ton of ornaments to completely cover the base and quite frankly...that is a lot of money on ornaments!

I started with a Styrofoam base that I picked up at Goodwill for 25 cents and sprayed it silver with my Valspar Metallic Metal Spray Paint. I also had found a nice size bag of silver garland that same day at Goodwill for 75 cents, so I brought that out too. Here were my supplies.

Materials Needed

1-12 inch Styrofoam wreath form

5 tubes (12 each) of Dollar Store ornaments

1 pack of 18 mini ornaments (Joann's Fabrics)

Valspars Brilliant Metal Spray Paint

Several Yards of Silver Garland

Hot glue gun

Scissors

Wire for hanging (optional)

I first wrapped the base with my garland, hot gluing it at the start and the finish. I added a piece of wire for hanging it later.

Starting on the inside, I hot glued the ornaments to the base, varying the ornaments as I proceeded. I took a few moments with each one holding them in place for the glue to set.

I then repeated the same process on the outside of the wreath. As I rounded the outside closer to the end, I paid close attention to make sure that when they met, there was enough space and/or not a pregnant space left between the last ones.

I then started to work the ornaments into the space between the inner and outer ornaments. If you look closely at this next image, you can see that the ornaments had varying colors with some ornaments with glitter. I varied these different colors as I proceeded.

I kept going until the entire wreath was covered. I then filled in the large spaces with a few tiny ornaments that I had previously picked up at Joann's.

There were still some spaces that needed something and a few places where the hot glue was showing. I didn't want to add anymore ornaments, so I just cut little sprigs of the leftover garland, put a little dollop of hot glue on the end and worked them onto those areas allowing them to spritz out a little.

Done. This wreath took me a total of 2 hours, mostly because I worked slowly making sure each ornament was set up before moving onto the next one. I had leftover ornaments and they look totally cool just sitting in my metal urn.

Results!

This wreath only cost me 7 bucks you guys... Even if you paid full price for the wreath form and the garland, it would only cost you about $15. That PALES in comparison to what you would pay to buy something like this.

Just remember to really keep a strong eye peeled when you are at your local Dollar Tree. You just never know what you will find that surprisingly looks super high quality!

TIP!!

Don't forget to scour your local thrift shops right now. They have a lot of holiday decorations because people are getting their decorations out and getting rid of what they do not want. Maybe a bag of garland, an old wreath that can be striped and cleaned up or a little dish or something that you might be able to use is waiting there for you! Check it out! You might be surprised.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my

Day 9

of

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Ideas and Gifts Series!!

-The End-
Linking this post to:
This wreath was FEATURED! Yeah...here is where...

Holy Cow I love this one! I need to hurry and get out to the Dollar Store before it starts to snow again. The problem is with all these new projects I just... can't... keep... up! I start to make one, then out you come with another that I want to do, and before I can put it together you've got more rolling down the pipeline! Do you ever get to sleep?!! Keep em coming. I'll be holiday crafting right behind you until sometime in April! Deb

This is pretty much genius! I love that you used tinsel garland to keep the wreath looking full and extra festive! I'd be thrilled if you popped by to share this post, and any others you'd like to show off at the Head to Head Showdown, going on right now at www.icantstopcrafting.blogspot.com ~Jen

What a a gorgeous wreath. This is such an awesome idea. I am going to hit the thrift stores asap. I would love it if you could share this awesome post at our What's It Wednesday linky party. Hope you can join us.